the other extreme takes place (i.e.wu ji bi fan). Accepting opposites
but taking no extreme stands, staying in the middle or moving toward
the mean, is therefore the mainstay ofyin–yangdialecticism. The
Confucian doctrine of the mean and the value of harmony, as reflected
in the interview study of Chinese executives (Chapter 8), are consistent
with this dialectic way of thinking. Having said that, the more dynamic
view of dialecticism also posits that opposing forces are in constant
change and their relative positions may evolve or even reverse when
leaders seize or create the right conditions. Such dynamic views of
contradiction and change may underlie much of Sunzi’s theory of strat-
egy in war (Chapter 5) and Mao’s military success with the revolutionary
army, as well as his disastrous class struggle campaigns after the
founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Control mechanisms
The fifth theme that runs through the various leadership philosophies
concerns mechanisms of control for achieving cooperation. A great
variety of control mechanisms have been proposed, including personal
trust through dyadic relationship-building, impersonal bureaucratic
controls of rules and regulations, cultural controls of rituals and
values, and legal controls of punishment, etc. While all of these mech-
anisms are familiar and practiced to various degrees, Chinese business
leadership seems to be more adept at informal relational and cultural
controls than at formal bureaucratic system-wide controls despite a
long history of dynastic bureaucracy. Rule by law or through rules
and regulations in China tends to be more prohibitive and punitive
than promotive and supportive. However, the proliferation of Western
style MBA education and the practices of multinational companies in
China seem to be popularizing and improving formal and market-
oriented control systems in Chinese business organizations.
Leadership agency
A final theme that has important theoretical and practical implications is
concernedwiththe leaderbeing the agent ofaction and change. Research
in social psychology and cross-cultural psychology (e.g. Markus and
Kitayama, 1991 ;MorrisandPeng, 1994 ; Nisbett and Peng,2001)
suggests that the Chinese conception of the individual self is oriented
more toward interdependence than independence, that Chinese cogni-
tion is more holistic than analytic in that it is more oriented toward
20 Chao-chuan Chen and Yueh-ting Lee